Since She Went Away
by IonaCarta
Summary: After Maddy left, Rhydian was half the wolfbood he should have been. Set after season two.
1. Chapter 1

Rhydian scowled at the back of the teacher's head. He hadn't been able to focus all day, all week really, since Maddy left. Shannon, who was sitting beside him looked up at him with concern on her face. Rhydian tried to smile back but it came out as more of a grimace. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked down at the table, blinking hard to get rid of the tears that had suddenly come to his eyes. They had developed a habit of doing that recently. He rubbed the palms of his hands into his eyes, then stood up suddenly. Mr Jefferies turned round at the sound of his chair being scraped back and looked at Rhydian in mild surprise.

"Is anything the matter, Rhydian?" Rhydian looked at him but only half saw him.

"I... No... I mean yes... I mean..." He stuttered into silence as the rest of the class laughed. Shannon tugged at his shirt, trying to pull him back into his seat. Reluctantly, he sat back down and let his mind wander, paying no attention to what was happening in the classroom.

It had been a week since he'd seen Maddy. A week since he'd last caught her scent, held her in his arms. A week since he'd broken down on the moor above Stonybridge, howling in misery at the injustice of it all. Shannon and Tom had been so good. They'd helped him to his feet and muttered words of comfort to him, even through their own tears. They'd ended up going back to Shannon's house, where they sat side by side on the sofa in silence, but for Rhydian's sobs. Shannon's mother came home after three quarters of an hour and sent Rhydian and Tom home because of the late hour. Rhydian had barely made it back, and when he did get through the door he was instantly accosted by Mr Vaughn, who sent him to his room without dinner for being so late. Mrs Vaughn came up bringing food after a few minutes, having seen how upset he was, but Rhydian didn't touch it.

Rhydian hadn't been in to school the next day. He told the Vaughn's he was sick and locked himself in his room all day, just sitting on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Why had she had to go? It was safe, wasn't it? The DNA was gone! But so was Maddy.

By eight o'clock that evening Shannon and Tom were getting really worried about Rhydian. They had gone round to his house, but Mrs Vaughn had told them Rhydian was ill. They had left, knowing the truth and feeling worse than before.

Rhydian hadn't slept that night, but instead sat on his bed, looking at the sketches he had done of Maddy, noticing imperfections in his drawing that weren't there.

The next day had been Saturday, so no one missed Rhydian for school. He had gone into the woods and found his and Maddy's special place and curled up at the base of the tree and cried himself to sleep, not having slept in almost forty eight hours. He awoke and crept home at eleven, climbing into his room through the window.

Rhydian was brought out of his daydream by Mr Jefferies shouting his name.

"Rhydian!" Rhydian's head jerked up and he looked into Mr Jefferies face, his eyes bloodshot, and his face blotchy.

"Sir?"

"I..." Mr Jefferies seemed unsure, "are you sure you're alright?" Rhydian opened his mouth to reply, then shook his head.

"Actually I feel a little off..."

"I'll take him to the nurse," Volunteered Tom. He took Rhydian by the arm and helped him to his feet, "come on." Rhydian left the room under the gaze of the rest of his classmates. Once they were in the corridor and out of sight, Rhydian stopped.

"Tom, I..."

"Don't thank me," said Tom, cutting him off, his face serious, "look, what you and Maddy had was special. I could see that. Anyone could see that. You're not going to be okay straight away. I understand that." Rhydian nodded gratefully.

"Thanks." Tom smiled reassuringly.

"I've got to get back to class. You... Do what you think." And with that he turned and jogged back down the hall.

That night, Rhydian tried to use Eolas to try to see Maddy, but it wasn't working. In frustration he tried to clear his mind, but he couldn't seem to connect with nature. With a sigh he turned and entered the house.

Over the next few weeks, Rhydian tried to settle back into the regular flow of life. He went to school, hung out with Tom and Shannon, even played football with Jimi and his mates, but everyone noticed he was more subdued, keeping his head down.

The first full moon after Maddy left, Rhydian went up onto the moors. As he sat waiting for the moon to rise, he thought he saw the silhouette of a wolf against the darkening sky, but when he looked closer, it was just a clump of bushes. He sighed and turned his head away.  
That whole night, even in wolf form, Rhydian sat and gazed at the last spot where he had seen Maddy, before she and her parents transformed into wolves. As the moon set and he returned to human form, he looked around and howled at the sliver of silver on the horizon. The howl ended as a wail, and Rhydian went home with tears still streaming down his face.

One month after Maddy left, Mrs Vaughn started to get worried about Rhydian.  
"You'd think he'd be over her by now, wouldn't you?" He heard her saying to Mr Vaughn as he pressed his ear to the crack in the floorboards over the sitting room. "I mean, it's been a month, and he's hardly any better! He never leaves his bedroom, he hardly sees his friends, he's so quiet, except when... Well..." So she'd heard him crying. He felt angry with himself and stood up, not wanting to listen anymore.

Two months after Maddy left, and Rhydian was getting counselling. His social worker had fixed him up with one of the best psychiatrists in the area, but she wasn't helping him much. He hardly spoke to her during their sessions, and he overheard her telling Mrs Vaughn that she didn't think there was much point in him coming to see her again unless something changed.

Three months. Four months. Rhydian started having dreams, nightmares in which Maddy told him that she had never loved him, that he was the reason she had left. He began to try to stay awake.

Five months after Maddy left, Rhydian collapsed at school. Painfully thin from not eating, exhausted due to lack to sleep and the absence of the moon that day, he saw Shannon scream as if in slow motion... Tom race for help... faces crowding round him... Maddy... Maddy! He tried to sit up but a hand on his chest kept him pinned to the ground.

"Dont try to move Rhydian..." He blinked and looked up into Mr Jefferies face.  
"Wh..."

"You collapsed. The ambulance is on its way."

"Maddy... Where is she?"

"Maddy?" People looked at each other, confused.

"Maddy's not here, Rhydian." Not here... But, then why... Rhydian's eyes slid shut and his head fell back to the floor.

 **Maddy was running... Running fast... She didn't look happy... She was running from something, but from what? Rhydian tried to go to her, but he couldn't move! He was trapped... Just as everything faded into blackness, Maddy screamed.**

 _Maddy ran, gasping for breath, not daring to turn her head to look at the wolfblood who was pursuing her. She caught his scent as the breeze changed direction, he was gaining on her. She closed her eyes and thought hard, relying on her remaining senses to guide her as she focused all her mental power. She had no idea if this would work, but it was her only chance to escape the wolfblood who would kill her if she tried to fight._ _ **RHYDIAN!**_ _The mental shout was almost painful. She opened her eyes with a gasp and put on a fresh burst of speed, hoping against hope that it had worked._

Rhydian lay on the gurney in the ambulance, eyes closed, breathing fast and shallow. Tom, who was riding in the ambulance with Rhydian, looked down at his friend, terrified. This was his fault. He should have noticed it sooner. Rhydian looked so pale and fragile, so unlike his usual self. Tom rested his head on his hands, as the ambulance sped down the road towards the hospital.

Rhydian awoke in the bright, sterile glare of the hospital. He opened his eyes slowly, squinting up at the ceiling.

"Rhydian?" Tom's voice spoke from his side and he turned his head.

"Hey..." he smiled weakly.

"I was so worried man... what..." But Rhydian had suddenly sat blot upright, pushing his covers back.

"Maddy!" he half shouted.

"Maddy? Rhydian..." Tom began.

"She's in trouble. There's a wild wolfblood, chasing her, it's going to kill her!" Rhydian looked down at the hospital gown he was wearing, "Where are my clothes?" Tom held up a bag, speechless.

"Rhydian, I really don't think..." Rhydian made a grab for the bag, but overbalanced. Tom grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back down onto the bed. "Mate, you're not well. You need to rest. You just had a nightmare, right?" Rhydian drew a shaky breath.

"This wasn't like any nightmare I've ever had before... please, give me back my clothes!" Tom looked unsure as he lowered his hand holding the bag with Rhydian's clothes in.

"I'm not convinced..." He began, but suddenly, Rhydian bared his teeth, his pupils suddenly ringed with yellow.

"You give them to me, or I swear I will hurt you." Tom shook his head, backing away wordlessly.

"You're not well..." Rhydian made a second swipe for the bag, seized it and ran out of the door. Tom stood for a second, undecided, then sprinted after him.

Rhydian stood on the pavement for a moment, trying to decide which way to go, then took off running to his right. The hospital was in the centre of a large town, and the cars and electricity buzzing nearby made Rhydian's head spin. He reached a park and ran into a clump of bushes, hurriedly changing out of the hospital gown and pulling on his jeans and school shirt.

Then he crouched low to the ground and dug his fingers into the mossy soil. He closed his eyes and turned his face to the sky, opening his eyes and looking up into the cloudless blue. Then he saw her.

 **Maddy was still running, but she was tiring, and the wild wolfblood was not. Rhydian looked at the scene frantically, trying to see where Maddy was, but he didn't recognise anything. He zoomed out on the imagine in his mind, and suddenly a path was clear. He sprinted out of the park and down the road, towards Maddy.**

 _It hadn't worked! He hadn't heard her! There was now a burning pain in her chest and her legs felt like they were on fire. Maddy had no choice. She turned and faced her pursuer.  
_  
Rhydian gasped for breath as he sprinted faster than he'd ever run in his life towards Maddy. He didn't know how far away she was or how long it would take him to get to her, but he knew he was going in the right direction. He pulled off his jacket and threw it behind him as he sped on, it would only weigh him down and encumber his progress.

 _Maddy leapt into the air as she transformed, taking her attacker by surprise as she soared over him. It didn't take him long to come to a halt and turn on her himself. Even though her wolf was fully grown, he was much larger than her, much stronger and much more experienced. She raised her hackles and growled at him, placing one of her back paws behind her, ready to spring. He advanced on her, his own hackles raised and teeth bared. She saw that one of his canines was missing, doubtless knocked out in a previous fight, like the large bite taken out of his left ear. She shuddered mentally, terrified, but she wasn't going to back down now._

Rhydian stopped suddenly, an unfamiliar scent reaching his nostrils. Then with a gasp he recognised the wonderfully familiar scent of Maddy, less strong and tainted with fear. She hadn't been here too long ago. His heart racing, Rhydian followed the scent.

 _Maddy growled again and suddenly, without warning the wild wolfblood lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. She struggled to throw him off her, but he was nearly twice her size and weight. He looked down at her with a satisfied expression on his face, then leaned in for the kill._

Rhydian suddenly felt a pain in his side that didn't come from him. The wild wolfblood had caught up with her! Even now she could be... No, he couldn't think about it. He kept on running as he transformed into the wolf.

 _Maddy could feel the saliva as it dripped from the wild wolfbloods open jaws, could smell his foul breath. She struggled again, weaker now, knowing it would do no good. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come. Rhydian..._

Suddenly, the weight was taken from her as the wild wolfblood flew from her. Unsteadily, she got to her feet. It couldn't be...

Rhydian and the wild wolfblood were locked in combat. Their jaws snapped, their claws dragged across earth and flesh, their growls rising from where they fought, each aiming to kill, heedless of their own injuries.

Maddy looked on helplessly, then howled loudly. Both Rhydian and his opponent stopped and looked around. The wild wolfblood took a step towards her as she took a step back. She knew what she had to do. Rhydian was weak already, he couldn't win a fight against a wolfblood who was so much more experienced than he was. Maddy transformed back into a human as she backed away. She looked at Rhydian desperately.

"Run!" He shook out his wolfish mane and transformed as well, still shaking his head. Oh how she had missed that beautiful face.

"No! I can't leave you Mads! He'll kill you!"

"Go!" She screamed, "please! You can make it if you-" the rest of her sentence was drowned in a scream. The wild wolf blood had leapt at her, jaws open, paws outstretched, there was no way she could escape this.

Rhydian leapt. He jumped in front of the wolf that was about to kill Maddy, and took the full force of the blow. He heard a snap as the other wolfbloods neck broke from the collision. Both wolfbloods fell to the floor, human and wolf.

"Rhydian!" Maddy screamed, "oh my god, Rhydian!" She knelt by his side and saw with numb disbelief the gaping wound in his side. "No..."

"Maddy..." Rhydian's voice sounded feeble and weak.

"No, dont try to speak, we're going to get you through this, you're going to be okay..." Tears fell thick and fast down her face as she spoke, knowing that the wound was too deep, he was bleeding out fast, too fast.

"I love you..." The words were whispered, Rhydian barely had the strength to form them.

"I love you too... I love you too, Rhydian..." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, feeling only faintly as he squeezed back. His eyes locked onto hers, then closed. Maddy laid her head on his chest and sobbed.

When Rhydian woke up it was dark. He frowned and opened his eyes, looking around the dark cave. He tried to push himself upright but a searing pain in his side forced him back down.  
"Maddy..." He croaked, his voice faint and his throat dry.

"Rhydian?" He turned his head to the side. She had lifted her head from where it had been resting, asleep on Rhydian's bed, tear tracks visible from her reddened eyes, "you're alive!" She wrapped her arms around his neck. He failed to suppress a groan as she put weight on his injured side. She flung herself backwards, "Rhydian! I'm so sorry..."

"No, its... It's fine... What happened?" She explained how once the wild wolfblood was dead, wolfbloods had come out from behind the trees and hailed Rhydian as their new leader because he had killed the last alpha. Their healers had come forward and tended to his wound. He had been unconscious for three days and Maddy had been beginning to lose hope.

"But I... I don't want to be an alpha... I dont know this pack, I can't be a leader. All I want is," He voice cracked, "is you..." Maddy smiled through fresh tears.

"I love you so much," she said, as she took his hand on the bed, "you stupid boy..."  
He grinned up at her, suddenly tired, but content.


	2. Chapter 2

As Maddy crossed the moor with her parents, she looked back at the last place she had seen Rhydian. It was too far away and too dark to make out the shapes of her best friends, even with her wolf senses. The last thing she had heard from Rhydian had been his heartbroken sobs, and now her own heart felt like it was being ripped in two. She stumbled slightly over a loose rock as her concentration was on the pack she had left behind. Her mother looked back at her as if to say "come on, there's no time for this!" Maddy turned reluctantly and followed her parents into the night.

The first few weeks had been the worst. Neither Maddy nor either of her parents had any experience of living in the wild, so to say it was difficult would be putting it mildly. They had to learn how to hunt, how to create shelters from the weather, and most importantly, how to stay hidden, all in a matter of weeks. On a number of occasions they went hungry due to a failed hunting attempt, and once, they had had to leave a sheltering site so quickly they had left Maddy's photos of her friends behind because Emma thought they had been seen.

After three or four weeks, Maddy tried to use Eolas, out of sight of her parents, of course, just for a glimpse of Rhydian. She wished she hasn't tried as soon as she saw him. He was sitting on his bed, silent tears rolling down his cheeks as he gazed at a picture of her that he had drawn a few weeks before she left. She ended the connection quickly, her heart heavier than before.

For several months, Maddy and her family survived in the wild, never staying in one place for more than a few days. Maddy didn't try to use Eolas again, in case she saw Rhydian in the same, distraught state, or worse, what if she couldn't see him at all?

As the time dragged on, Maddy found herself adjusting to life as a wild wolfblood. The times when they went hungry were fewer and further between, and they had remained in the same camp for over a week.

Suddenly, Maddy's ears pricked up. She frowned mentally. She didn't remember transforming. That seemed to happen more and more often as she lived in the wild. She shook her head to clear it and listened.

A twig snapped. She turned to face the sound, growling. Taking a nervous step back, she sniffed the air, trying to catch a scent, but the wind was blowing in the wrong direction.

Another twig snapped and a low branch of a nearby tree rustled. Suddenly, she saw movement. Maddy pounced.

"Dan, do you smell that?" Emma looked at her husband. His yellow eyes were staring around, trying to find the deer they had been stalking.  
"Over there!" She pointed suddenly, and both of them transformed, bursting into a run. The two of them worked seamlessly as a team, hardly needing to communicate with each other as they worked to bring down the doe.

A small scream rang out from under Maddy's paws. She took a step back, suddenly frightened. A child scrambled backwards away from her, terrified. She sniffed it, cautiously. It was unmistakably a wolfblood cub. She transformed back into her human form instantly. "Oh my god... Are you okay? I am so sorry..." But the cub just stared at her. Then, without warning, it turned and fled.

Emma and Dan returned to camp just as Maddy watched the cub out of sight.  
"See what we caught! We won't be going hungry to-"  
"We have to leave."  
"What?"  
"We have to leave! Now!" Emma didn't understand.  
"Why? What's happened, pet?"  
"There's, there must be a wolf pack around here, and we're on their territory."  
"How do you know that?"  
"I... I didn't mean to! It was an accident... But... There was this cub, and I didn't mean to hurt it, but I didn't know what it was, and..."  
"That's it, we're leaving. Now, Dan!" Daniel dropped the deer carcass he was carrying with a wistful sigh, and all three of the Smiths transformed into wolves. Just as they were about to leave, however, an eerie howl broke over the forest surrounding them and a net fell from the trees above, trapping all three of them together.

"What were you doing trespassing on my territory, stealing my prey and attacking my children?" The wolfblood in front of them paced, angrily, gesticulating wildly as he bellowed at them. Maddy and her parents were tied at the wrists around the base of a tree trunk.

After being captured, they had been borne to the heart of the wild pack's territory, where the pack spent most of their time. The air smelled strongly of unwashed wolfbloods, and hostile intentions.

Maddy gripped her mother's hand tightly. Dan, however, turned his head to face the wolfblood who was addressing him.  
"We didn't know it was your territory, or that we weren't allowed to hunt here! And as for attacking your children, it was an accident! I'm sure you understand..." He trailed off. The enemy wolfblood was fixing him with such a glare Dan felt as though it could see right through his skull to the trunk of the tree behind him.

"Pah," the wild wolfblood spat. "You're all tames. How else could you fail know the rules of the wild?" He shook his head disdainfully. "Take them away." He ordered. Four beta wolves scuttled forward, looking terrified. "Take them to punishment rock. We'll deal with them in the morning." The beta wolves nodded and bent to untie the ropes fastening Maddy and her parents and leading them away.

That night, Maddy and her parents stood on the top of a large, flat, elevated rock, surrounded by snarling, unfriendly wolfbloods. None of them could sleep, although they tried.

The next morning, they were brought down from the rock and brought in front of a council. It seemed to contain all the elders of the pack, including the alpha they had gone across last night.

"So, we are here to decide on your punishment for trespassing, stealing and attacking our cubs." He began.

"No, please, it was an accident, let us go, we didn't know!" All three of the Smiths begged. The alpha wolf just laughed.

"Let you go? What so you can run along home to your tame little lives and put our secret in danger? No. I think... An execution is in order." The rest of the pack nodded in agreement, a wild, cruel gleam in their eyes. "First, bring me that one. The small one." He pointed at Maddy. She froze.

"No! No, please, take me, kill me instead..." Emma pleaded at her daughter's side. Maddy shook her head and whispered to her mother, so quiet not even the listening wolfbloods could overhear.

"Dont worry, mam, I have a plan..." One of the beta wolves who had taken then up to 'punishment rock' the night before, stepped between Maddy and her mother and roughly pushed Maddy forward. She stumbled and fell to her knees.

"Get up!" Barked the alpha wolf in front of her. Her hit her in the face. She struggled to her feet, blood dripping from a cut on her eyebrow.

"What do you want to do this for?" Maddy looked him straight in the eye. "What do you think killing me will achieve?" The alpha roared.

"REVENGE!" and leapt at Maddy. Except she was no longer there. In wolf form, the ropes had slipped off her wrists. She ran over to her parents, looking up at them as if to say "Do it! Change!" But before they had had a chance, beta wolves had closed in around her parents and were dragging then away, preventing transformation. A wolfblood in wolf form leapt at Maddy, too.

"Leave her!" Hurriedly the other wolf stepped back. Maddy turned to face the alpha, growling. Then without warning, she turned tail and ran out of the camp. The alpha shouted, "Keep the other two safe, dont let them escape!" and took off after Maddy.

Maddy transformed back into a human. She could run faster as a wolf, but she didn't have the stamina to keep going for long in that shape. She just hoped the wolfblood pursuing her didn't either. She had to buy her parents enough time to fight their way out of there. She knew they would, they'd do anything to save their cub, its in a wolfblood's nature. She ran on.

Maddy ran until she found a change of scent. She had reached the border of the wild pack's territory. She veered right, trying to remain on the border. This sudden change of direction had lost her precious metres between herself and the wolfblood on her heels.

She summoned all her strength and called on the only person she could think of left, who could maybe, maybe, answer her cry./pre


	3. Chapter 3

For the first few days after being made the leader of the wild pack, Rhydian was too weak to leave the cave. He had lost a lot of blood from his wound, but he hated having to be so still. Maddy was at his side almost constantly, only leaving to find food for the two of them and attend to more... Personal matters.

Rhydian was frequently consulted by one or more of the packs elders concerning matters he knew or cared little about. Then one morning, a young beta male strode into the cave.

"Before he left in pursuit of this one," he glanced at Maddy, "our old alpha had commanded us to keep the other prisoners safe pending their execution. The decision as to their punishment lies now with you." Maddy gasped. Her parents? Rhydian frowned as well.

"Who are these prisoners? What was their crime?" The beta wolfblood explained what Maddy and her parents had done. Maddy looked down at the floor. If she'd known her parents hadn't managed to escape, she would have gone to look for them sooner.

"Bring them to me." Rhydian ordered.

"As you wish." The beta wolfblood bowed out of the cave.

"Maddy?" Rhydian looked at her, concerned. "Is that..." she nodded.

"If I'd known they hadn't made it out... I should have been clearer..."

"Hey, hey, it's okay! Its okay, you can see them now. Its going to be alright." She nodded and hiccupped slightly. "Can you help me sit up?" She nodded and with an arm around his shoulders, hoisted him gently upright. He winced as he settled into position. "Thank you." She smiled at him, just as three wild wolfbloods entered, leading roughly by their bound wrists, Maddy's parents.

Maddy was half hidden behind Rhydian, so he was the first person they saw. Both their faces registered blank shock.

"Rhydian?"

"What are you..." Maddy had stepped out from behind Rhydian, into the light cast through the mouth of the cave. Emma's hand flew to her mouth, and both she and Dan made as though to go to their daughter, but the wolfbloods on either side of them restrained them.

"Let them go." Ordered Rhydian. The wild wolfbloods did so without question. Emma and Dan ran to their daughter and hugged her tightly.

"Mam, Dad... I'm alright... Thanks to Rhydian..." Both the Smith parents turned to Rhydian with tears in their eyes.

"You saved her?" He looked down, embarrassed. "Thank you... But, what were you doing here in the first place?" Rhydian explained about how he had seen Maddy in a sort of dream and come running as soon as he was able. Once he had finished, Emma posed another question.

"But are you going to stay here as an alpha?"

"Well right now, I dont think I've got a lot of choice..." Rhydian replied, dryly. Dan chuckled, then quickly stopped at a look from his wife.

"No, I don't suppose you do..."

"But once you're healed properly, what will you do then?"

"I'm staying with Maddy. Whatever she does, I'll do. And... It's safe now... Back in Stoneybridge... You could come home." Maddy looked at him keenly at those words.

"You never told me that!"

"I forgot..." Said Rhydian, sheepishly.

"How... Why..." Dan failed to articulate his question.

"Dr. Whitewood is on our side. Segolia offered her a place to work alongside wolfbloods instead of against them. It's safe." Maddy and her parents looked at one another, ecstatic.

"We can go home!"

"But what will you tell the wild wolfbloods?" Emma asked after a while. Rhydian frowned. He hasn't thought of this.

"What do you think their reaction would be if I told them we were leaving?" He asked.

"At best, banishment from the pack..." Emma stopped.

"And at worst?" Rhydian prompted.

"Execution." Dan replied. Maddy and Rhydian looked at each other.

"So... We sneak away at night?" Maddy suggested.

"And risk being tracked by an entire pack of wolfbloods?" Emma asked, sceptically. Maddy shook her head, crossly.

"Never mind then."

"We've got a while to think of a plan anyway, like Rhydian said, he's not going anywhere for a while..." Piped up Dan. Emma nodded thoughtfully. Just then, a healer entered the cave, carrying a jar of salve for Rhydian's wound. Rhydian grimaced as she applied it.

"Stings..." He muttered.

"Good, that means it's working!" Said the healer, brightly. Rhydian chuckled.

"It doesn't smell too good either..." She simply smiled at that and continued applying the ointment.

"You should be able to walk in a few days, but nothing too strenuous, or you'll reopen the wound!" She warned him as she left. Rhydian looked at the Smiths excitedly.

"Did you hear that? A few days, she said!"

"Nothing too strenuous, she said." Maddy put a hand on his shoulder. "It shouldn't be too long, though, maybe a couple of weeks."

"A couple of weeks?" Rhydian groaned. "I can't wait that long! Being an alpha is no fun." Maddy laughed.

"Not when you don't want it to be fun... If we're going to be here for a while, why not let me be your alpha female?" Rhydian stared at her, unsure of what she was proposing. "Oh come on, just temporarily!"

"Right, yeah, r-right, temporarily..." He muttered. Maddy grinned at him, knowing what her words had done to him.

He smiled back, suddenly sleepy. Something in the salve the healers were giving him always had this effect. He yawned, then tried to stifle it. Maddy pushed him back onto the bed and drew the furs over him as his eyes closed, smiling down at him as she did so.

Once Maddy had made sure Rhydian was asleep, she and her parents left the cave. Very early on, Rhydian had ensured that Maddy was safe wherever she went within the pack's territory. She hoped that protection would automatically extend to her parents.

Daniel chuckled.

"Nice one, Maddy." He grinned at her. She grinned back, uncertainly.

"Mam, Dad, I was wondering, when we get back home, can Rhydian live with us? Like, forever?" Emma and Dan exchanged glances.

"Well..." Emma began, but was cut off by Dan.

"It's not that simple, Maddy. You see-"

"WHY NOT?" Maddy yelled. "We're old enough, well, nearly, why shouldn't we live together?" Dan looked at Emma, questioningly.

"Because..." Emma stalled.

"Because what?" Maddy began, "I'm not a cub anymore, I'm a wolf and I can do what I want! And all I want is Rhydian, and you're taking that away from me!' She turned and stalked off. Dan turned to Emma and raised his eyebrows.

"Did you say anything about taking him away? I didn't say anything about taking him away..."

"Let her calm down, she's had a very emotional time." Dan scoffed.

"Emotional. I'll say! Look, why don't we-"

"No." Emma fixed him with her gaze, her eyes turning yellow. He backed down.

"Fine." He turned and followed his daughter back to the cave.

Maddy was still fuming when they walked in, but she didn't shout at them in case she woke Rhydian. Instead she turned her back and pretended to be examining something on the wall.

Her parents sighed and almost at the same moment, transformed into wolves and lay down on the ground to sleep. Neither of then had slept properly in days. Maddy looked over at them reluctantly and smiled. Carefully, she picked up an unused blanket and draped it over the two of them before carefully climbing into bed beside Rhydian. Still smiling, she fell asleep with the comforting warmth beside her.

Over the next few days, Rhydian's health improved steadily, although he was frustrated at how slowly developments happened. He was now able to walk short distances, leaning heavily on Maddy.

She had taken him outside to present himself in front of the entire pack. Some members of the pack had been beginning to show restlessness at the continued lack of an alpha presence.

When Rhydian had appeared before them, wrapped in furs, many of the pack had refused to bow outright. Rhydian looked on helplessly until Maddy took her place beside them and roared, "THIS IS YOUR LEADER, YOUR ALPHA, AND YOU WILL SHOW HIM THE RESPECT HE DESERVES!" After that, not one of the wild wolfbloods dared stand disrespectfully before Rhydian.

Maddy grinned at him. He grinned back.

"That was amazing!" She laughed.

"I told you being an alpha can be fun when you want it to be!"

After that, Rhydian enjoyed appearing before the pack a bit more.

After a couple of weeks, Rhydian was able to walk on his own, though not for as long as he would have liked.

"You said it would have been healed by now!" He accused Maddy.

"That was an estimate. It shouldn't be too long now though, you're doing really well..." He nodded.

"I can't wait to go home..." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It won't be long now, I've got a plan." He looked up in surprise.

"You do?" She nodded and began to explain her plan.

By the time Rhydian was able to walk without support, it was almost the full moon, and time to put Maddy's plan into action.

Rhydian addressed the entire pack for the first time on the day of the full moon.

"As your new leader, I have to go through an initiation ceremony, both into the leadership and into the pack, as do the uh, the Smiths." He gestured awkwardly behind him to where Maddy and her parents stood. "I also have to announce my successor. I have already reached that decision, and so in the event of my death, banishment or any other reason why I may not continue my leadership, Máedóc shall be your leader instead." The beta wolf stood up in surprise, then turned to face the pack, his fist across his heart. The pack cheered. This was worrying to Maddy. Rhydian was stalling.

"However," Maddy raised her voice over the noise of the wolfbloods around, "The four of us will need to spend the day apart from the rest of the pack, to ready ourselves for the ceremony, which will take place before moonrise." Rhydian nodded in agreement.

"So, our preparation ritual shall begin now. The next time I address you all, I shall be your leader, or I shall have perished from the tasks ahead!" the pack roared in unison and Rhydian gulped. This had better work.

Rhydian and the Smiths turned and walked through the trees towards the river.

"Are you sure about this?" Rhydian stopped Maddy before she went any further. She nodded.

"Yes! But we have to do this quickly."

"Okay." The four of them stepped into the river. It was deeper than it looked, but this was to their advantage. Maddy and Rhydian exchanged glances, then transformed. Emma and Dan did the same. Then they stepped out into the middle of the river and began to swim, downriver, with the flow.

They swam with the river for about an hour before Emma stopped them suddenly, sniffing the air. The others sniffed too, trying to find what she had smelled.

A single wolfblood was standing as a sentry by the bank of the river on the edge of the territory. Maddy looked around at Rhydian and her parents, as though saying "follow my lead", took a deep breath, and dived.

The current was much stronger below the surface of the river, and more turbulent. She let herself be carried downstream, trying not to move, hoping the others had realised what she was doing and followed suit. After almost a minute, she thought she had passed the sentry by, and began to swim back towards the surface, her lungs bursting.

Suddenly, an eddy in the current caught her by surprise and whipped her back down. She panicked, struggling, kicking out against the water, her heart beating frantically, trying to pump non-existant oxygen around her body. Just as she was about to give up, darkness flooding her vision, a strong hand grasped her by the scruff of her neck and pulled her out of the water.

She gasped, filling her burning lungs with air, panicked tears mingling with the river water on her face as she leaned against the person who had saved her.

Rhydian held her tightly as she clung to him. He could hear her heartbeat, much louder and faster than usual as she drew a shaky breath.

"Thank you..." She breathed. He smiled back.

"Not at all." she transformed back into the wolf, and they continues their journey downstream, Maddy sticking closer to Rhydian's side.

Rhydian had plenty of time to think as they swam down the river. Being with the wild pack, he hadn't really thought much about why he was there, or anything that had happened to him. It had all seemed so unreal, so distant. But now that they were escaping, his mind seemed clearer. He looked at Maddy, swimming strongly beside him, and his heart twisted. He had almost lost her, twice. He looked back to the moment, just minutes ago, where he had resurfaced past the wolfblood sentry, and realised she wasn't with him. He had searched frantically until he located her, then pulled her out of the water, his own heart beating just as fast as hers.

Suddenly, Maddy let out a bark of delight and began to swim more frantically down the river, to catch up with her parents. Rhydian joined her, then a sudden pain in his side made him stop and let the current take him. Maddy turned and struggled against the flow of the river until he had caught up with her. She nuzzled at his shoulder anxiously. He looked at her and panted, trying to make her understand that he was alright. She swam with him until they reached the bank where her parents were waiting for them, in human form.

"I think we're almost there." Emma said with a smile.

"Almost where?" Rhydian questioned her.

"Anywhere! There's a human town or village up ahead, we might be able to make it back to Stonybridge from there!" Maddy frowned.

"The moon's almost risen," She said, pointedly, "We'll have to wait until morning." Rhydian nodded in agreement, suddenly tired. Wolfbloods didn't normally get tired on a full moon, but they had spent almost a whole day swimming frantically to get away from the wolf pack, and Rhydian was still weaker than usual on account of his injury. He returned to wolf form, slightly ahead of the moon, and flopped down onto the bank.

That full moon was one of the tensest Maddy had ever experienced. While Rhydian slept, unusual for a wolfblood on the full moon, Maddy and her parents prowled around him, howling at the moon, wishing day would come.

When dawn finally broke, it met the sight of Maddy and her parents pacing up and down the bank, now back in human form. Maddy woke rhydian with a gentle shake of the shoulder. He woke with a start and leapt to his feet.

"Maddy? What is it?" she giggled.

"Sun's up! We're going home!" she hugged him tightly. To his surprise, it caused him no pain. His wound had healed overnight! He grinned and hugged her back. Then, the four wolfbloods turned and walked towards the village, the sunrise still shining in the sky as the left the forest, and the wild pack, behind them.


End file.
